Thursday, June 17, 2021

EUGENE, Ore. – Five athletes with connections to the GNAC will look to realize Olympic dreams as the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials begin on Friday at Hayward Field.

Western Washington alumna Katie Reichert, Western Oregon alumni David Ribich and Derek Holdsworth, former Seattle Pacific standout Kaylee Mitchell and Falcons’ volunteer assistant coach Allie Ostrander are all entered in the eight-day meet which will determine the U.S. team for July’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. The meet runs June 18 to 27.

This is the second Olympic Trials for Reichert, who was the 2016 GNAC javelin champion and earned All-American honors four times for the Vikings, which included a runner-up finish at the 2014 Division II Championships. Reichert placed 16th at the 2016 Olympic Trials and has competed as an unattached athlete ever since. She has the No. 13 mark in the field at 178 feet, 5 inches, which she attained at the Chula Vista High Performance meet in California in April. Reichert enters the meet with a lifetime best of 182 feet, which she threw in 2017.

Ribich, who now races for the Brooks Beasts Track Club, has the 28th best mark entering the meet in the men’s 1,500 meters with a seed time of 3:37.44 from the Brooks PR Invitational in 2019. The 2016 and 2017 GNAC Men’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year and the four-time conference champ in the 1,500 meters, Ribich has seen limited racing in 2021 and has a season-best of 3:44.72 at April’s Oregon Relays.

Holdsworth was only able to compete for Western Oregon during the 2020 indoor season before the COVID-19 pandemic effectively ended his college career after he transferred to Monmouth from Trinidad State. Holdsworth ran the fastest time in Division II that season in the 800 meters, a 1:47.74 that was made him the odds-on favorite to win the indoor title.

Now running for Tracksmith and coached by former Western Oregon head coach Mike Johnson, Holdsworth has the 19th-fastest time in the field with a 1:46.65 run at his only meet so far this season, the Stumptown Twilight High Performance Meet on June 3 in Portland.

Mitchell, who transferred to Division I Oregon State from Seattle Pacific in 2020, is No. 32 in the women’s steeplechase field with a seed time of 9:48.30, which placed third at the 2021 Pac-12 Conference Championships and set the OSU school record. During her time at Seattle Pacific, Mitchell set the SPU record in the steeplechase and placed second in the event at the 2019 GNAC Outdoor Championships.

Ostrander, who runs for the Brooks Beasts, joined the Seattle Pacific staff as a volunteer assistant for the 2020-21 cross country and track and field seasons. She is among the favorites to make the finals in the steeplechase field, with the No. 8 time in the field at 9:30.85. Ostrander is also entered in the 10,000 meters, where her seed time of 32:06.71 is 27th. Ostrander ran collegiately at Boise State, where she was the three-time Division I champion in the steeplechase.

U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials – Track and Field
June 18-27, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore.
Schedule For Athletes With GNAC Connections
Friday, June 18
Men’s 800 Meters First Round (Holdsworth), 5:26 p.m.

Saturday, June 19
Men’s 800 Meters Semifinals (Holdsworth), 7:04 p.m.

Sunday, June 20
Women’s Steeplechase First Round (Mitchell, Ostrander), 6:35 p.m.

Monday, June 21
Men’s 800 Meters Final (Holdsworth), 5:28 p.m.

Thursday, June 24
Men’s 1,500 Meters First Round (Ribich), 6:04 p.m.
Women’s Steeplechase Final (Mitchell, Ostrander), 8:47 p.m.

Friday, June 25
Women’s Javelin Qualifying (Reichert), 1 p.m.
Men’s 1,500 Meters Semifinals (Ribich), 4:05 p.m.

Saturday, June 26
Women’s Javelin Final (Reichert), 5:30 p.m.
Women's 10,000 Meters Final (Ostrander), 6:44 p.m.

Sunday, June 27
Men’s 1,500 Meters Final (Ribich), 4:52 p.m.